Judy Bari

Prosecutors said Tuesday they will wait at least two weeks before deciding whether to formally charge two environmental activists accused by police of causing an explosion that nearly killed the pair last week. Supporters of the two said the delay indicates police have a weak case and renewed their charge that someone tried to assassinate the activists to stop their efforts to preserve old-growth redwoods. One of the activists, Darryl Cherney, 33, of Piercy, remained free on bail Tuesday.

The title of the no-frills documentary "Who Bombed Judi Bari?" is not a rhetorical question; the filmmakers are offering a $50,000 reward for answers. The 1990 attack on two Northern California environmental activists remains an unsolved case, though over the years it has been at the center of media scrutiny and a landmark 1st Amendment ruling against the FBI and Oakland police. Darryl Cherney, who produced the film, was in a car with Judi Bari when a pipe bomb exploded. Members of the direct-action group Earth First!

Almost 22 years after Earth First! activists Judi Bari and Darryl Cherney were car-bombed during a campaign to save old-growth trees, a federal judge has ordered the FBI to turn over evidence from the bombing for forensic testing. In an order dated last Friday but released Monday, Claudia Wilken, United States district judge of the Northern District of California, affirmed a March 21, 2011, order by Magistrate Judge James Larson, directing the United States, through the FBI, to turn over the remnants of two pipe bombs, cardboard signs and other evidence connected to the bombing.

Two Earth First! activists recovering from injuries suffered when an explosion tore through their car were arrested Friday by Oakland police for possessing and transporting an explosive device. However, Oakland authorities released no evidence as to why they believe the two suspects are to blame for the explosion Thursday that nearly killed them.

Almost 22 years after Earth First! activists Judi Bari and Darryl Cherney were car-bombed during a campaign to save old-growth trees, a federal judge has ordered the FBI to turn over evidence from the bombing for forensic testing. In an order dated last Friday but released Monday, Claudia Wilken, United States district judge of the Northern District of California, affirmed a March 21, 2011, order by Magistrate Judge James Larson, directing the United States, through the FBI, to turn over the remnants of two pipe bombs, cardboard signs and other evidence connected to the bombing.

The Sunday Los Angeles Times featured my story about the new documentary film, "Who Bombed Judi Bari?" which plays Wednesday at the Laemmle Monica in Santa Monica. Not only a gripping story about a campaign to save the last stands of coastal old-growth redwoods in California in the 1980s and '90s -- some of which were actually saved -- the film details one of the most horrific, and inspiring, stories of environmental activism in the U.S., on a par with the stories of Erin Brokovich or Karen Silkwood.

The title of the no-frills documentary "Who Bombed Judi Bari?" is not a rhetorical question; the filmmakers are offering a $50,000 reward for answers. The 1990 attack on two Northern California environmental activists remains an unsolved case, though over the years it has been at the center of media scrutiny and a landmark 1st Amendment ruling against the FBI and Oakland police. Darryl Cherney, who produced the film, was in a car with Judi Bari when a pipe bomb exploded. Members of the direct-action group Earth First!

Judi Bari's name may not be as familiar as Erin Brockovich's or Karen Silkwood's, but her life of activism — fighting the logging of old-growth trees in Northern California — was no less cinematic. Now, 15 years after her death, a new documentary, "Who Bombed Judi Bari?" brings the carpenter, fiddler, union organizer and Earth First firebrand to the big screen. Bari spearheaded efforts in the 1980s and '90s to slow logging on the state's northern coast. In 1990, while organizing logging protests, an explosion tore through her car in Oakland and nearly killed the 40-year-old single mother of two. Authorities initially claimed she and her passenger, Darryl Cherney, had been transporting explosives, but the pair insisted they had been framed by the FBI and Oakland police.

Judi Bari, a fiery leader of the group Earth First! who was permanently injured in a mysterious 1990 car bomb blast on the eve of "Redwood Summer," died Sunday after a long struggle with breast cancer. She was 47. Bari died at her home, according to her longtime friend Betty Ball of the Mendocino Environmental Center.

The Sunday Los Angeles Times featured my story about the new documentary film, "Who Bombed Judi Bari?" which plays Wednesday at the Laemmle Monica in Santa Monica. Not only a gripping story about a campaign to save the last stands of coastal old-growth redwoods in California in the 1980s and '90s -- some of which were actually saved -- the film details one of the most horrific, and inspiring, stories of environmental activism in the U.S., on a par with the stories of Erin Brokovich or Karen Silkwood.

Judi Bari's name may not be as familiar as Erin Brockovich's or Karen Silkwood's, but her life of activism — fighting the logging of old-growth trees in Northern California — was no less cinematic. Now, 15 years after her death, a new documentary, "Who Bombed Judi Bari?" brings the carpenter, fiddler, union organizer and Earth First firebrand to the big screen. Bari spearheaded efforts in the 1980s and '90s to slow logging on the state's northern coast. In 1990, while organizing logging protests, an explosion tore through her car in Oakland and nearly killed the 40-year-old single mother of two. Authorities initially claimed she and her passenger, Darryl Cherney, had been transporting explosives, but the pair insisted they had been framed by the FBI and Oakland police.

"THE Secret Wars of Judi Bari" could be assigned in journalism schools to teach how not to do investigative reporting. Which is a shame, because there is a valuable, intriguing story to be told here, one full of personal neuroses, political idealism, corporate greed and police treachery.

To some, she was an environmental Joan of Arc, patron saint of the Save the Redwoods movement and tree-sitting bane of the Northern California timber industry. To Berkeley writer Kate Coleman, she was a fascinating cross between nuclear whistle-blower Karen Silkwood and the late anarchist Emma Goldman. Environmental activist Judi Bari died of breast cancer six years ago in a Mendocino County cabin. She was 47.

Judi Bari, a fiery leader of the group Earth First! who was permanently injured in a mysterious 1990 car bomb blast on the eve of "Redwood Summer," died Sunday after a long struggle with breast cancer. She was 47. Bari died at her home, according to her longtime friend Betty Ball of the Mendocino Environmental Center.

Judi Bari, a firebrand Earth First! organizer who was permanently injured when a pipe bomb exploded under her car seat on the eve of the 1990 "Redwood Summer" anti-logging protest, and who led the radical group to renounce tree-spiking, died Sunday of complications of breast cancer at her Mendocino County home. She was 47. Bari brought the concerns of labor to the environmental movement, along with a commitment to nonviolence.

Judi Bari, a firebrand Earth First! organizer who was permanently injured when a pipe bomb exploded under her car seat on the eve of the 1990 "Redwood Summer" anti-logging protest, and who led the radical group to renounce tree-spiking, died Sunday of complications of breast cancer at her Mendocino County home. She was 47. Bari brought the concerns of labor to the environmental movement, along with a commitment to nonviolence.

To some, she was an environmental Joan of Arc, patron saint of the Save the Redwoods movement and tree-sitting bane of the Northern California timber industry. To Berkeley writer Kate Coleman, she was a fascinating cross between nuclear whistle-blower Karen Silkwood and the late anarchist Emma Goldman. Environmental activist Judi Bari died of breast cancer six years ago in a Mendocino County cabin. She was 47.

On a May day in 1990, Judi Bari and Darryl Cherney set off for a rally in Santa Cruz. The Earth First! activists were looking for volunteers who would throw their bodies between timber company saws and the regal old redwoods of Humboldt County. But Bari's old Subaru never got that far: A pipe bomb under the driver's seat exploded as they drove down an Oakland street.